For many years, grain-based food products have been a staple of the human diet. Popular grain-based food products include, for example, cold breakfast cereal (ready-to eat or “RTE cereal”), hot cereal, oatmeal or grits. Such grain-based products are commonly viewed as health foods, providing a rich source of nutrients and fiber.
With a growing interest in cereal and other grain-based products for its health benefits, it would be desirable to provide a grain-based food product that combines convenience and health attributes with added value, such as additional sensory appeal, texture, nutritional value or other attributes that may be of interest to the consumers. This is especially important in view of the highly diverse tastes, interests, preferences and diet considerations of a growing consumer market. Sensory appeal, in particular, is important for increasing the popularity of such grain-based products among children.
As such, it is desirable to provide improved grain-based food products which have appealing sensory attributes, and a technological platform to make such products.